Thanksgiving
by daynaa
Summary: Thanksgiving weekend, CSI style. Just a bit of fluffy fun. No pairings. So far anyways.
1. Friday

Thanksgiving:

A/N: This is a two shot, and I promise, that is what it will be. I am challenging myself with it. And I know that everyone doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving. In fact, I think the only place in the world celebrating Thanksgiving THIS weekend is us Canadians. So happy Canadian Thanksgiving everyone! Hah. So obviously the CSIs would not be celebrating Thanksgiving at this time, so it can be November or whenever American thanksgiving is. Let's play pretend. Obviously, since we like fanfiction, we're good at that. Okay.

PS: It's set sometime after season four.

Disclaimer: Own nothing. As always.

--&

It seemed that for the Miami Dade CSIs, there was not a lot to be thankful for that year. They had all lost so much, been deceived by so many, and endured so many more devastating things than they usually had to endure that year, that they should have been thankful a few months later in January when the particular year was over. But it was Thanksgiving, and what were they to do?

"Hey Calleigh." Eric sat down beside her in the break room.

"Eric, Hi!" She smiled brightly at him. How she was a morning person was beyond him. Ryan seemed to be thinking along the same lines, as he looked practically dead sitting on the opposite side of Calleigh on the couch. "Do you two realize what this weekend is?"

"It's not anyone's birthday is it?" Ryan moaned.

"Yes Ryan. It's yours." Eric joked dryly.

"It is?" Ryan played along. "I may be tired, but I still know my own birthday Delko." Ryan rolled his eyes. Eric just shrugged.

"So what is it?" Eric asked.

"As if you don't know." Calleigh rolled her eyes, muttering something under her breath about men, forgetfulness and being tired of it all.

"It's Thanksgiving." Natalia piped up from across the room, where she was pouring herself some coffee.

"At least _someone _knows their holidays." Calleigh narrowed her eyes at Eric, then Ryan.

"Why would I care about Thanksgiving?" Eric asked. "I forget it every year. When we work the job we work, you can hardly argue that there is anything to be thankful for."

"Especially this year." Ryan added.

"It figures that as soon as you two agree on something, you take the opposite side of me." Calleigh sighed. "And I do see your point. I was thinking similar thoughts until last night when I had an epiphany."

"Oh god." Ryan groaned, sitting up straighter on the couch. Eric wasn't sure if he was trying to wake up, or fall asleep. He seemed to be playing limbo in between the two at the moment.

"Though there have been a lot of… unpleasant things happen to us over the past year," Calleigh began.

"Try traumatic. Life scarring…" Eric was about to continue when Calleigh shot him one of her trademark 'I'm trying to be positive here' looks. "Sorry, continue."

"We still have a lot to be thankful for." This time it was a snort from Ryan that interrupted her. He promptly closed his eyes after receiving the look. "We all have jobs we are passionate about doing, and we enjoy coming to work because we're all friends, and we get along. We all get paid and we don't ever have to worry about getting laid off, or put out of work because as long as there are people in the world, there will always be crime. We have so many securities in our life that a lot of people can't say they have," Calleigh continued before Eric cut her off once again.

"Before we listen to the rest of your sermon, could I say something?" He asked, and she nodded. "I think it is a wonderful idea to celebrate Thanksgiving."

"You just said that to make me shut up." She accused.

"No, I think so too." Ryan added, opening one eye.

"Because you're so much more credible." Calleigh remarked sarcastically. "But because that is the second thing you two have agreed on today, despite it being different views on the same topic, I am thankful for you two getting along, so I will skip the sermon if you promise to come to thanksgiving dinner at my house."

"Well…" Eric began.

"Promise?" Calleigh asked.

"Are you cooking?" He asked hesitantly.

"Eric!" She hit him on the arm.

"Ow!" He rubbed the spot.

"I didn't hit you _that _hard." Calleigh rolled her eyes at his over exaggeration. "But no. I will not be cooking."

"I'll come!" Both Ryan and Eric chorused at once.

"I'm hurt. Truly hurt." Calleigh put a hand over her heart and played sad. She really wasn't offended. They all knew she couldn't cook.

"I'll make it up to you later." Eric called with an overdramatic wink as he headed for the door to the break room.

"You're quite the drama queen today." Calleigh commented with a smirk.

"A drama queen who needs to go pester Valera for DNA results." Eric said with a flourish. "So that I shall do. Would you care to join me Ryan? As you and I are _both _working the case, we should _both _go offer ourselves as slaves to Valera to hurry our lab results along."

"As enticing as that sounds, it is way too early for me to leave this couch." Ryan replied.

"Do you know many germs are probably on that couch?" Eric asked, and Ryan seemed to perk up just a bit. "How many people sit there, spill god knows what there, and even touch the couch forgetting to wash their hands after touching funny things in the labs…" By this time, Ryan had leapt off the couch and was not sanitizing his hands, from a bottle that had come from who knows where.

"Let's go." Eric smirked, obviously pleased with himself for manipulating his colleagues OCD ways. Ryan followed him out of the room, obviously wide-awake now. Now it was just Natalia and Calleigh left in the break room, and it was sort of awkward as things always were around the lab when it was just Natalia and anyone.

"So," Calleigh was attempting to start a conversation.

"It's funny to watch how wrapped around your finger Ryan and Eric are." Natalia smiled in a friendly manner. She knew everyone felt awkward around her, so she tried to ease that as much as possible.

"I guess." Calleigh shrugged. She'd never really thought about it before, but now that it was mentioned she supposed she did, in a way. "I guess it's just because for the longest time, the only females around the lab were me and Alexx, and Alexx isn't around _that _much."

"Yeah." Natalia shrugged. She, from an outside position could see that despite the fact that she had dated both of the men, they were in love with Calleigh. She was just more approachable, more attainable, though she was sure that if either of them were to actually let Calleigh know that they were interested, she wasn't on quite the level of pedestal that they'd placed her. "So are you going to do anything with family for thanksgiving?"

"Nah," Calleigh shrugged. She didn't feel like divulging her complicated, rather tragic family story to Natalia at that point, or holding hostile feelings where there was a lack of knowledge. "My whole family, except for my Dad, are in Louisiana and he's going back there for the week. I can't be bothered travelling. I'd rather just stay here. What about you?"

"Not this year. Things at home aren't exactly… pleasant to go back to right now." Natalia shrugged.

"I know how that feels." Calleigh sympathized. It was at that point that she realized that Natalia had less to be thankful than the rest of them, anyways. She felt badly for sitting there, and making that semi, well sermon, as Eric had called it, about how lucky they were to have the working environment they had, when she didn't have that. "Well, if you aren't doing anything, would you like to come to my house with us for thanksgiving? Since, you know, we're all sort of family around the lab."

"Sure!" Natalia's face lit up at the prospect of finally being accepted into the lab. "I would enjoy that a lot." Calleigh was glad she had asked, despite the fact that she knew Ryan and Eric would not be pleased with her later. That was okay, because as Natalia said, she had them wrapped around her finger.

"Well, we'll have dinner at my place on Saturday night. I know it's typically Sunday night, but well, we like to do things differently. So Saturday it is." Calleigh explained.

"Okay." Natalia nodded. "Who else goes to these things?"

"Well, since it's on Saturday, Alexx will be able to drop by for a bit, Eric and Ryan, as you know, will be there. Horatio usually comes, but this year I don't think my pitch on what we have to be thankful for will work on him. Some of the detectives might pop by, Valera and Dan will probably be around, a variation of other lab techs perhaps." Calleigh explained. "My condo is way too big for my own good, and everyone brings a bit of food, and of course, alcohol. What else makes a real thanksgiving? And I have already ordered a huge turkey from the same place I always do, so we're covered there."

"Sounds like it's a lot of fun." Natalia smiled. "You're sure no one's going to be upset that you've invited me?"

"You're a part of the lab now too. They may have had their… issues with you in the past, but what better time to get over them than thanksgiving?" Calleigh shrugged. She wasn't too worried about how the Natalia factor would go over. She did pitch some rather compelling sermons, if worse came to worse, but Saturday would bring what Saturday would bring.

--&

A/N: Actually, you know what? Today is Friday. So that can be Friday in the story. Then, this will actually be a … four-chapter story. I changed it. Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday of Thanksgiving. Okay. Review please! Hope you enjoyed it! Bed time for me!


	2. Saturday: Part One

Chapter Two:

A/N: Thank you to SincerelyInDenial and Jumaolster for the reviews. They were greatly appreciated! Today is indeed Saturday, so here comes another Thanksgiving update!

PS: I pretty much suck. I am going to try my best to fight the Calleigh and Eric pairing I want to put in this story, but just a side warning, I might give in. I'm sick. Not in fighting condition.

--&

Saturday rolled around, and luckily Calleigh had the day off to prepare. If she hadn't, she didn't know how she would pull everything off. She had to clean her condo, shop for all the supplies that were not food as well as pick up her share of that later, call her family and say hello, though that was her least favourite of all the things on the list, and then get herself ready for the evening. It didn't seem like a lot, but she was sure she would, as always, run into dilemmas and, per normal, things would stand in her way of reaching her thanksgiving goal. Of course, she _did _have the whole day, and a full day it was, so she decided to sleep in that morning, all the way until nine thirty, which, when you had to get up at quarter to six each morning, was a very long time. Anyhow, that had been her plan until seven o'clock when the phone awakened her. Despite desire to pull the contraption right out of the wall, she fought the temptation, and answered thinking it might be work.

"Hello?" She mumbled sleepily into the phone.

"Calleigh…" She heard a voice start in a frustrated tone.

"Ryan! You woke me up!" She complained. "This had better be important."

"It is. I assure you, it is." Ryan told her. "Why does Natalia seem to have the idea that she is invited to your thanksgiving tonight?"

"Because she is." Calleigh yawned. "Is that all? This has been a short conversation and I could still get back to sleep and forget it even happened."

"No! That is not all! Well, I guess it is. But I'm not done talking about it." Ryan protested.

"What is there to talk about?" Calleigh wondered, though she clearly knew.

"Calleigh, you know about my history with Natalia. And Eric's too. When he finds out about it, he won't be any happier than I am." Ryan tried to explain.

"That's selfish of you." Calleigh rolled her eyes. "Natalia is a part of our family at the lab. It's your fault that you decided to have whatever relationship you had with her before getting to know her enough to judge her properly."

"Fine." Ryan resolved. "I'm sorry for waking you up."

"I'll see you later Ryan. And play nicely with the other children." Calleigh cooed before hanging up. Eric had better not call her about that today too. She decided, since she was already awake, that she might as well just get up. So she did. Going through her morning routine of a shower, quick breakfast and then changing into clothes for the day, she was ready. First thing on her list was to clean her condo. It wouldn't be that big of a deal, since she was rarely home being the workaholic she was, and when she was home she only ate, slept and watched TV. Surveying the general living room and dining room areas, which were not separated by a door, but merely an indentation in the wall. Deciding this was a good place to start, she began dusting and arranging things on the relatively clear table tops. After sorting her CD and DVD collections, and tidying up what needed to be tidied in her kitchen, Calleigh came to the realization that the time she had allotted to spend cleaning her house would go towards compensation for other setbacks. It was barley eight o'clock and she was finished. It was then her phone rang again.

"Hello?" She answered. It was her home phone, so she didn't bother with the professionalism.

"Calleigh, it's Eric." He informed her.

"I noticed. And if you're calling to bug me about…" She started before he cut her off.

"I'm not." He reassured her. "Ryan already told me what happened when he called you this morning. And I am looking after your child, don't worry."

"Eric, that wasn't funny." She rolled her eyes.

"Well, you know, Ryan was saying how he felt like your child when you told him to play nicely with the other kids and…" This time she cut him off.

"I got the joke. It just wasn't funny Eric." She told him, now stifling a giggle at his completely silliness. He tried way too hard to be funny, and in doing so, was.

"I can hear you laughing." He teased her.

"Don't flatter yourself." She teased him back. "But really, why are you calling? Shouldn't you be working? Slaving yourself to Valera… examining crime scenes…"

"Not today." Eric smiled, knowing fully well that he was not getting out of the Valera joke any time soon. It was all in good fun. "But I could come slave myself to you for the day. Horatio let me go early, since it is thanksgiving and I had asked for the day off if it wasn't busy… and now I have nothing to do…"

"Sure." Calleigh accepted. "I don't have anything spectacular for you to do. My whole day schedule was thrown off when I realized it wasn't going to take me all morning to clean my apartment."

"Well, at least I can keep you company." Eric shrugged. "I'll be over in a bit."

"Okay. See you then." Calleigh shut the phone. She was glad Eric was coming over. Today was looking like it was going to shape into a rather boring day until the evening rolled around, and she could use someone to keep her company.

--&

It was almost an hour, and much channel flipping on Calleigh's part before Eric showed up at her door. He rang the doorbell.

"Hey!" Calleigh smiled.

"Hey," Eric smiled back. "Sorry it took me so long…"

"No problem at all. You are slaving yourself voluntarily you know." She winked playfully at him as he stepped inside, and followed her to the living room where the TV was turned to a random morning talk show.

"Wow Cal, your place looks even more…perfect than usual." Eric commented. It really did. Spotless and not a thing out of place, when usually he could place at least something out of place if he looked hard enough.

"Thanks." She replied. "I did spend the last hour and a half cleaning it when it didn't need any cleaning to begin with." She laughed. "But are you ready to go?"

"Go where?" Eric asked.

"Shopping." Calleigh said with a bright smile.

"I don't like that smile." Eric told her.

"Awh, are you afraid of shopping?" Calleigh teased.

"When you say it paired with that smile, yes." He took a step back in mock fear.

"Well it's not even clothes shopping. Just supplies for tonight. You should be fine and by every means safe." She reassured him.

"Alright then. But I'm taking your word on it." He told her, in mock seriousness.

"Let's go." She shook her head as he followed her out the door.

--&

Three hours and many stores later, a worn out Eric and Calleigh made their way back to Calleigh's apartment.

"You said it was safe! Harmless!" Eric said dramatically as he walked into the condo, setting his bags down carefully by the door.

"It was!" Calleigh rolled her eyes at him, clearly amused by his display.

"You call me safe and unharmed?" Eric asked.

"You look fine to me." Calleigh shrugged.

"But you can't _see _my pain." He continued, "It's all on the inside. All that teasing… all that walking! I'm hurting. I really am."

"Eric, you are such a damsel in distress." Calleigh laughed.

"Then you'd better rescue me." He suggested, dramatically throwing himself towards her.

"When did you take up a sudden interest in acting?" Calleigh raised an eyebrow, and Eric shrugged.

"I don't know." He answered. "I'm just spontaneous. I can't help it if I'm funny."

"I'm laughing at you. Not with you. Trust me." Calleigh smirked.

"That's what they all say." Eric told her.

"Cute. Now help me with this." She gestured to all of the bags. They had groceries, they had beer and other assorted liquors, they had pumpkins and other assorted thanksgiving decorations and anything else they would need to prepare for and host the evening. Calleigh was in the middle of carrying three small pumpkins towards the living room when the phone rang. "Can you get it?" She called to Eric.

"Mm, sure." He answered from the kitchen where he had been stocking groceries. "Hello?"

"Who is this?" Came an obviously southern voice on the phone. Calleigh came back into the kitchen at that very moment.

"It's your Mom." Eric mouthed to her, and she stifled a laugh. "This is Eric… Eric Delko."

"Are you my daughter's boyfriend?" The woman asked.

"Uh, no." Eric answered awkwardly.

"Then why, might I inquire, are you answering her phone?" The woman continued.

"Because she was in the other room, and she asked me to." Eric answered honestly.

"Okay. Well is she still preoccupied in the other room or can she talk to her Mother?"

"She's right here." Eric handed the phone to Calleigh who was smirking at him.

"Hi Mom." She said into the receiver. "Yes. Eric is a colleague and a friend. We're having our work thanksgiving at my house tonight, and we both have the day off. He's helping me prepare. Yes Mom, I am sure that's all. All right. Love you too." Calleigh hung up the phone.

"Was your accent that strong when you lived in Louisiana?" Eric asked.

"Probably." Calleigh shrugged.

"You knew it was going to be your Mom didn't you?" He accused.

"Well Eric, today I have laughed with you, and at you. Right there I was laughing _for _you." Calleigh explained.

"Laughing for me?" Eric raised an eyebrow. "I've never heard that one before."

"Me neither." Calleigh shrugged. "I just didn't have an answer to your question. I figured it'd be her, and I thought it'd be fun to watch you squirm."

"I hope you enjoyed it…" Eric pretended to be hurt before moving suddenly to grab Calleigh around the waist before tickling her. "Because now it's my turn."

"Eric!" She squealed, laughing hysterically. How had he known she was ticklish? "Stop!" He slowed down slightly, as he would never want to hurt her at all, but continued tickling her a bit until they were both out of breath from laughing. "Now I got to see you squirm. We're even." He reasoned.

"For now." She challenged, and he knew that for the rest of thanksgiving, this silly competition was not going to stop.

--&

A/N: WHAT a random chapter. Saturday had too much in it for my liking, and I am very tired, but I wanted to post something. Saturday part two and Sunday will come tomorrow since I'm going to sleep now so I'll be able to actually think and process thought tomorrow to a degree where I can accomplish more. Review please, and again: Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!


End file.
